Inside the ruins, space was torn open.
Takako Uro was the first to escape the collapsed rubble. Half her body was bloodied, debris had sliced open her shoulder, and burns marked her abdomen.
Ryu Ishigori charged out right behind her.
Compared to her, however, he was clearly in far worse shape. His entire jacket had been burned to tatters.
He had noticeably more wounds, and even his pompadour had come loose. Blast wounds covered his chest and arms, and cursed energy was still leaking out of him.
Neither of them had expected Long Xi to launch an attack like that, but an attack of this caliber alone couldn't possibly defeat them outright.
Especially Takako Uro.
Her Sky Manipulation technique was simply too well suited to defense and escape.
His carefully prepared plan had only left her with a few injuries.
"As I thought... I was still too arrogant..."
Long Xi stood outside the ruins. The wound on his chest had mostly healed, and his cursed energy had climbed even higher.
He stared down at the two of them, his brow deeply furrowed.
Long Xi, oh, Long Xi...
How many days had it even been since you came to this world? Just because those chance breakthroughs over the last three days had rapidly strengthened you...
Had you already become this arrogant?
You still hadn't prepared enough!
If Kurourushi's combat strength was equivalent to three fingers, then the two people facing you now were each worth at least five!!!
And your own combat strength came from all kinds of binding vows, along with... an almost suicidal level of cursed energy output.
Judging purely by his raw strength in a head-on fight, he was probably only worth about three and a half fingers.
Compared to them, you were still too weak...
So only by using higher-purity cursed energy, no matter the cost, could you gain a greater advantage!!
The fighting had been so intense that the livestream assistant's perspective had replaced his main view. Now that Long Xi had briefly escaped the most dangerous close-quarters combat, the barrage of comments filled his vision again.
Twenty-three thousand viewers, and the number was still rising.
His cursed energy recovery was surging upward, almost keeping pace with his expenditure.
Almost all the cursed energy he had just spent had already been restored!
The other two hadn't failed to notice Long Xi's abnormal condition, either.
Takako Uro narrowed her eyes, and Ryu Ishigori sensed something strange as well.
Takako Uro was still considering his condition, but Ryu Ishigori, who had been watching Long Xi almost constantly since he entered the Sendai Colony, had already noticed.
Something's wrong with this brat.
Reverse Cursed Technique is certainly troublesome, but it consumes an enormous amount of energy.
After fighting this many battles in a row, his cursed energy should have bottomed out.
Just as even the finest cake shop would disappoint people if its display cases were empty near closing time.
Am I imagining things?
In the end, Ryu Ishigori stopped dwelling on it and simply assumed Long Xi was putting on a brave front!
After all, no matter how hard those two thought about it, they could never imagine that Long Xi's health and mana bars were practically interconnected.
As long as his mana bar wasn't empty, his health bar would rise.
As long as his health bar hadn't emptied, his mana bar would keep recovering.
Long Xi glanced down at his healed palm and suddenly smiled. He was back at his peak again!
"Ambushing people when they're taking a fight seriously isn't exactly good manners! Can't you act like a normal person?!"
"And another thing! Put some clothes on, lady!"
Ryu Ishigori grinned, and his cursed energy slowly began gathering. Clearly, he was ready for round two!
In the distance, Takako Uro's expression grew even uglier.
The only difference between her and the red-faced Guan Yu now was probably her lack of a long beard.
After all, those last few remarks...
For certain people, they really were precision strikes!
Originally, Long Xi had two more plans for fighting Ryu Ishigori.
After Kurourushi died, Yuta Okkotsu was supposed to handle Takako Uro, leaving him free to focus entirely on Ryu Ishigori.
But now that his plans had been disrupted, he could only go all out.
Long Xi split into two again.
His red-eyed self and Blue Eyes stood on opposite sides of the ruins.
The livestream's viewer count jumped to twenty-three thousand four hundred.
Without hesitation, he placed a binding vow on his own abilities.
In the past, he had used his lifespan, the derivative effects of his cursed technique, and all kinds of bizarre conditions.
But this time, he staked his most fundamental resource: his recovery.
It was like the Diamond Armor declaring him the winner at an arcade and handing him its "armor summoner," or Satoru Gojo throwing the Six Eyes into a binding vow!
The resulting enhancement was therefore unparalleled!
In exchange for the livestream's cursed energy recovery over the next three hours, he would increase his total cursed energy and strengthen his cursed technique's effects!
An immense amount of cursed energy flooded both bodies!
The red flames and blue rain mist almost solidified.
Tiny bloody fissures opened across both Long Xis' skin, only to be repaired by Reverse Cursed Technique!
This binding vow was powerful.
It was even as powerful as the one in which he had sacrificed half his lifespan!
But because of the system's influence, it couldn't last very long!
Last night, he had tested countless possibilities to maximize his chances of victory!
And during those tests!
Three hours had been the maximum he could write into the conditions!
The actual duration-
Ten minutes.
After ten minutes, the binding vow would disappear.
Put plainly, it was hardly different from getting something for nothing.
It was like pledging not to destroy Sukuna's Finger!
In exchange for gaining the ability to damage an opponent's soul. Trading something that couldn't be destroyed in the first place was basically getting something for nothing, wasn't it?!
But this was already enough!
Ten minutes.
That was more than enough for him to break through this stalemate!
Both Long Xis charged toward Takako Uro at once.
Flames in the red-eyed Long Xi's palm formed a gigantic fist, which he blasted straight at her. Takako Uro raised a hand and grabbed the plane of the sky, preparing to deflect the attack.
Blue Eyes Long Xi had already circled around behind her.
Both Long Xis attacked simultaneously!
The fist descended! The flames were deflected straight back along their original path!
The red-eyed Long Xi dodged, and the attacks from behind followed immediately!
The first punch slammed into her shoulder! The second struck toward her abdomen! She twisted space to divert the third, sending Blue Eyes Long Xi's attack into his other self!
The fourth punch met the same fate!
This woman's close-quarters fighting ability is practically a bug. If only I had the Inverted Spear of Heaven!
Then I wouldn't be stuck on the defensive like this!
But this is already enough!
Those first two punches had slammed hard into her body. Takako Uro flew sideways, crashing through half a section of an elevated roadway.
Long Xi had originally wanted to follow up with a kick.
Its target would have been downright vicious, and the result probably spectacular.
But he hadn't completely abandoned his standards. A person had to draw the line somewhere, or he'd have nowhere to cry if someone did the same to him.
"Don't ignore me!"
Ryu Ishigori charged in from the side, sweeping his cursed energy cannon across them.
"Don't give her all your attention!"
The red-eyed Long Xi turned to take it head-on. Flames collided with the cannon blast.
Meanwhile, Blue Eyes Long Xi rode a stream of water after Takako Uro.
The three-way melee erupted in full.
Takako Uro raised a hand from the rubble and grabbed the "surface" of a nearby building. Under her technique's influence, the building became like crumpled soft cloth, rolling toward Long Xi.
It wasn't just the building!
The ground began to heave as well!
The street became an ocean surface. Concrete, rebar, and glass were all dragged along by the spatial plane, wrapping around the three of them.
Long Xi's flames were bent aside.
Ryu Ishigori's cursed energy cannon was reflected back as well.
Takako Uro's spatial technique was outrageously difficult to handle in a chaotic battle like this.
Red-eyed Long Xi attacked from the front while Blue Eyes Long Xi ambushed her from behind. The punch from behind was caught by the plane, as though it had struck a wall!
Just as the flaming fist in front was about to hit, Takako Uro turned.
The Long Xi behind her had his arm stretched by space, sending his fist smashing hard into the red-eyed Long Xi instead.
Both Long Xis retreated at once.
"What a pain."
Long Xi shook out his numb hand.
Though Takako Uro looked battered and had been injured, he hadn't truly broken through her defenses. Used properly, her technique...
Was absolutely as unfair as Limitless!
Meanwhile, Ryu Ishigori returned after being blasted away.
This time, however, his cursed energy cannon wasn't simply gathering atop his head. A sphere of cursed energy orbited him at high speed.
Then came a second.
The spheres left trails behind them, ultimately forming two concentric rings.
Long Xi's pupils contracted slightly.
A binding vow?!
Ryu Ishigori had made a binding vow too?
The cursed energy ring that should have consisted of a single layer now had two. It was completely different from how it had appeared in the manga!
What the hell was wrong with this world?!
Who had taught you all to use binding vows like this?!
"Come on."
Ryu Ishigori raised a hand and beckoned. Long Xi understood almost instantly who he was gesturing at. It was him!
"Don't stop..."
"You're not already full, are you?"
"..."
Long Xi clicked his tongue and rolled his shoulder again. Ignoring the woman over there, he instantly charged into the rings!
"Not a chance?!"
Close-quarters combat resumed!
His fists and feet clashed with Ryu Ishigori's, flames and cursed energy bursting nonstop. Yet one energy sphere within the rings kept darting in from the side to interfere, while the other circled the battlefield, cutting off his retreat.
In the sky, Blue Eyes Long Xi fared no better against Takako Uro.
Sweet Rain from the Heavens needed charged rainwater to support it. To weaken his opponent with the rain, he first had to get it onto her body.
But Takako Uro could use space to block the raindrops. She protected her whole body so tightly that she seemed like someone who hadn't bathed in her entire life!
She probably stank so badly that even the guys on the Arknights forum couldn't appreciate her anymore?!
Long Xi could only fight at close range.
But whenever his fists, elbows, or knees struck the plane of the sky, they were distorted, stretched, or reflected.
He couldn't gain any advantage at all!
The sky cracked again and again, like a shattered mirror.
Both Long Xis were caught in bitter struggles.
Takako Uro seized an opening and violently kicked Blue Eyes Long Xi away.
His left arm was twisted into a spiral by space, with bone jutting up beneath his skin. She gripped the surface of the sky with both hands, aiming at the area below where Ryu Ishigori and the red-eyed Long Xi were fighting.
"Die!"
"You Fujiwara brat!"
Thin Ice Breaker rained down in succession.
Not once! Several times!
The surrounding ground pressed inward, and buildings rolled up to surround the two of them. Then everything returned to normal, crushing them violently inside!
Though only her own strike dealt the greatest damage, the buildings enclosing them could certainly inflict substantial damage as well!
In other words... Takako Uro had won...
Before you continue